


Betrayal

by seagoat



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Denial, F/M, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, M/M, Mental Instability, PTSD, Recovery, Saw scene, tag as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-19 13:12:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4747682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seagoat/pseuds/seagoat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris killed his friend. He knew this. And he couldn't shake off the guilt. // Chris is haunted by his inability to help his best friend Josh, and struggles to keep a lid on his emotions.<br/>"...The more he puked, the more it hid the rustic smell of blood. The wet slap of organs hitting the floor. Josh screaming his betrayal. Ashley visible relaxing as the saw chewed into his friends body. The scene repeating in his mind as his dinner hit the floor, like Josh's legs hit the ground with a wet smack."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is really short?? Also this is like, the third time I've edited this, ao3 is screwing up on my phone a little, so sorry if its different from the last time anyone's read it.  
> Wrote this on my phone; don't hate.

The maniacs voice could be heard from the speaker, the saw inching closer towards the two. Chris knew, he knew if he didn't choose they'd both die.  
"God... I'm sorry Ash."  
Ashley thrashed widely in her restricts, "Chris, Chris no, please!" All Josh did was relax in relief, eyes not breaking his stare down with the saw. Oh man this is so fucked up.

His shaky hands reach out toward the lever, cranking it toward Ashley's smiling face in the photo. Ash I'm so sorry.  
"Ah... Is see. You've chosen to save Ashley."

"NO CHRIS!" His best friend screamed out. The relief in his eyes became clouded with panic.  
His stomach dropped. The heavy clunk of the track switching resonated in his chest. It stung. It hurt.  
He'd been lied to. "Oh.. Oh no." He managed to make out. He chanted the words like a prayer.  
"I thought we were _FRIENDS_ man! I thought we were _FRIENDS_ why would you _DO THIS!_ " The saw inched closer and everything was swamped in the smell of fear. Of sweat. He backed away from the wire screen, he knew the blood couldn't, wouldn't reach that far, but the guilt weighing in his stomach, that sat high on his shoulders forced him to. His fingers ran through his blond hair, like Josh used to do.  
"NO! OH GOD _WHAT DID I DO?"_  
Josh screamed. He screamed so much as the power saw hacked through is body, tearing away at his flesh like paper being torn in half and stripped away.  
" _No, no, no, no, no, no, no."_  
The blood sprayed everywhere, on the saw, the roof.. On Ash.  
All he could do was watch. His throat was dry and it hurt to swallow, like his throat had been mauled.  
His body paralysed at the site of his best friend being ripped in half by the jagged saw, slowly eating into him like a fine meal. The sight only lasted a few moments, though it seemed like eternity. An eternity of his best friend being peeled away from him. He could faintly hear Josh screaming at him. " _Why would you do this!?_ " As he tried to hold back his screams.

That's just like Josh. Always thinking of others. All he wanted to do was help him on their getaway. He knew that he felt the others were responsible for his sisters death, that he was responsible.. But after his video, he felt happy. Maybe he was finally opening up, shedding his skin of hurt and regret. But now he'll never know. None of them will. _That's what hurt the most._  
"Oh Josh.." He whispered, afraid his corpse might hear.  
Chris killed him. He knew this.  
The pounding at his ears turned into the boys name. Josh, Josh, Josh, Josh, Josh. Beating in rhythm with his ecstatic heart, trying to burst through his rib cage and jump into his open arms.  
It sounded so distant, like nails carving up a chalkboard in 3rd grade. Like his best friends voice calling to him from the grave.  
If he had just stayed with Josh after.. Whatever it was that contacted them. Then maybe he'd still be alive. There to joke about the situation their in. To talk sense into Chris about not being quick enough to save him.  
"Chris!" Ashley yelled. His name cut through the background like a knife. Like a saw. The swamp of noises halted and came crashing down. His vision sharpened and focused on the scene in front of him.  
Ashley cried hysterically, the corpse next to her still had his eyes open, still watching the saw.

Did he see it eat through him? What did he look like when the betrayal hit him?  
Chris had to push out the smell of decay and death that violated his nose with every intake of breath, so he stopped breathing.  
Ashley thrashed around on the wooden board. The silence was more deafening than the saw meting flesh. At least then, there was a distraction from this sick horror.

"I'm coming Ash, I'm gonna get you. I'm letting you down."  
The lock on the wire door clicked open. Chris forced his legs to move, to carry him through that door and toward Ashley.

"Come on, come on, let's get you down... Come on... We're gonna get you out of here." His voice was shaken, stuttering out of his mouth. The words were heavy on his tongue.  
"Ash. Ash I'm so sorry." He babbled, a string of apologies to make up for the murder he committed. Her eyes were distant, frightened like a deer caught in headlights. The chain around her arms had chewed into her wrists, any more movement would tear into her muscles. He unclasped the cold chain that held her up, arms wrapping around her warm, bloodied body. Josh's blood. Josh.  
She'd been screaming the whole time, through the ordeal. Guess she just ran out.  
His eyes locked up the lifeless body strung up next to him. His hand reached out to touch, but quickly drew back. He was afraid. He was guilty. He killed Josh. His best friend.  
The smell of vomit hit his throat. Dropping as he doubled over and retched. The more he puked, the more it hid the rustic smell of blood. The wet slap of organs hitting the floor. Josh screaming his betrayal. Ashley visible relaxing as the saw chewed into his friends body. The scene repeating in his mind as his dinner hit the floor, like Josh's legs hit the ground with a wet smack.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A+ listen to Whisper by Dave Baxter while reading this

Ashley continued to scream next to him. Chris's body shook from the abuse his throat took. The retching and flood of vomit and spit. Or at least, that's what he told himself. In truth he felt detached. There no ways this is real. Just another one of Josh's stupid pranks, trying his best to outdo the prank master, right?  
" _NOOOO!_ " Ashley's voice shook, wrapped up in the fear and death around them. The distress in her voice rattled him to his core. She didn't need to see this. His weakness. The blood.  
Chris forced his strung out body to move, fingers slowly twitching to life, one by one. He has to be strong, for Ashley. For Josh.  
"Shhh, we-we gotta go, okay?" His shaky voice frightened him, it wasn't very convincing. His stutters matched the ones in his chest. Yet Ashley buried her shaking body into his. Her weight didn't match the one he carried on his back.  
His arms wrapped around her, the heat of her body a distraction from whatever it was he was feeling. They collapsed on one another, dragging their feet as they stumbled out of the rusty shed that shrieked along with the howling of the wind.  
The cold wind stung his exposed face, but the heat of adrenaline pumping through his body wards it off. Ashley still sobs in his arms and he tries his best not to follow suite, choking back the tears and the memories still fresh in his mind. This wasn't fair. He didn't _need_ to die.  
Chris remembers rushing out of the building, away from the mistakes he made. The pain of leaving his friend strung up hurt. But he couldn't touch him. His fingers went clammy and his hands shook at the thought of pulling down the still-warm hunk of meat that used to be his friend. No one ever told you grief felt so much like fear.  
The snow crunched beneath their two feet, the soft _pit, pat_ that dragged through the snow. Covered the tip of his shoes and numbing his feet as they trudged on, through the small carved out path along the open forest. He could hear Josh's voice, poking fun at him for being so sensitive to the cold. He couldn't take a joke, and he couldn't take the cold.  
"Chris!" A voice called out. He didn't bother to look up, he was afraid it would be Him. The way He screamed his name, begging him, _what did he do wrong?_  
"Ashley!" He kept moving, legs working like a machine. Lift one up, and then the other. They _have_ to leave. They _need_ to get out of here.  
Chris heard snow crunch beneath rushed feet, "blood!" Someone gasped. He forced his neck to snap up, sorrow wrapped in his eyes as he stared. They already felt heavy. He must of looked _pathetic_.  
"Who's blood is that, Ash?" Emily asked, eyes widened in disbelief. Her eyes kept flickering from the blood, to Matt, to Ash, to Chris, arms nervously swinging by her sides as she turned restlessly in the snow. Matt looked distressed too, fists balled at his side, standing on his toes to get a look at whatever _could_ be behind them.  
The question felt like a slap to his face. His breathing speed and his chest tightened. Ashley slipped from his grip and his hands immediately went up to his face, trailing to his scalp, gripping his hair and yanking it. He fucked up so bad. Ashley sobbed beside him but he couldn't brig himself to care; he killed his best friend and they left him _hanging there_.  
"Are you okay?" What a stupid question of course he's not okay. Shallow, rushed breaths escaped from his lips, mouth chattering in the cold along with the panic that swelled and ate away at his chest.  
"Chris what happened?" Emily asked again, picking up how dire the situation was.  
The words we're stuck in his throat, dancing along his tongue, "J-Josh." He sucked in some breath, his stuttering obvious but he didn't care. The bonded hands rubbed his eyes, pushing the glasses of his face. It was wet. _You don't have the right to cry_.  
"Josh _what_ , dude?" Matts panic became obvious, and so was his frustration.  
He let out a small choked back sob, face scrunched up, "he's dead-" His breath hitched, he turned to look toward the shed. _His grave_.  
His facade slipped easily, breaking down. The words were heavy on his tongue and he struggled to pushed them out. Ashley gave another cry beside him, hands resting on her knees as she sobbed. " _Died_ -" he couldn't push it out " _right_ in front of us man-" He pleaded his case, hands waving uselessly in front of him, like a puppet tied to a string.  
The weight of exhaustion on his lids didn't matter, the sting of tears flushing out couldn't even bother him at this point.  
Matt face twisted at the words, "wait, what?" His hand moved out as if to say 'keep your distance'.  
"What are you _talking_ about?" Emily's voice was laced with disbelief, no longer concerned with the cold biting into her.  
The blondes head jerked at their response, the fear and questioning in their voice felt like knives being thrown at his chest.  
Stumbling over his words as they begun to gush out of his mouth, "t-there's a maniac" he babbled none sense, breath harsh as he struggled to keep a levelled head. SomeonewasafterthemsomeonemadehimkillJoshhe'sstill here _they're all in danger_. He let out another wracked sob, tears falling freely from his swollen eyes and he begun to shudder. Ohnkjoshisgonetheiralldeadhekilledjoshwhyisthishappeningwherearetheothers. Nonononono _nonono_  
"Oh my god we got to get out of here." Emily said, tugging on Matts jacket as he tried to gently force him away. Nowhydidnttheyunderstanditsnotsafeitsnotsafeheretheyrenotsafewithhim.  
"I don't understand what happened-" A look of confusion crossed Matt's face, there's no way he could understand.  
"There's a maniac! And.. he was- there was a saw..." He took a break from his deranged stuttering, eyes flickering from Matt to Emily. He saw the pain on their faces.  
"And it was either him or Ash and I didn't know what to do!"  
"Oh god..." Emily gasped, Trailing off as Matt face recoiled. She didn't need her honour roll to understand what happened.  
"Cut right through him and-spilling out _fucking_ everywhere." His words were slurred as he struggled to keep a lid on his emotions. The swirl of memories, that feeling of erupt emotions peaking and building up for a sudden crash.  
"WHAT!? Oh my god, Chris _what_!?" Emily cried out, her movements more erratic. Her friend is a murderer. There's a maniac on this mountain. Ashley was drenched in _Josh's blood_.  
"I-I killed him! I-I killed him..." The blond mewled feebly. A knew pain blossomed in his chest along with the recognition, like the way a cherry blossom blooms near a grave. The roots of despair burying into his chest and sprouting out his back.  
"Whoa- Chris-" Matt looked unsure, hoping it was another of their sick pranks.  
Ashley's breathing quickened, collapsing on all fours. "OH GOD!!" she screamed out. The words Chris repeated pulled the memories fresh to her mind.  
"It was my _FAULT_ , Matt-" Chris sobbed the words, barely above as whisper. He wasn't strong enough, _good_ enough. He couldn't take the crippling pressure on his back, kneeling over and sobbing into the crook of his arm, glasses sitting crook on his face.  
"No. No, this is insane. We need to go get some help." Emily, being the rationalist she was.  
"Cut right in half.." He whispered, voice muffled by his frosted jacket. He can still picture the body, the legs dangling by a shred of meat. Threads of muscle sickening and _wet_ compared to the sleek metal clang of the saw.  
"We're gonna figure this out, man." Matt tried to keep a level head. Chris has never cried in front of them. For a joke or otherwise. This has to be real. But there's no _fucking_ way.  
"I don't know I don't know I don't know..." He wished his mouth didn't work like a tap, gushing nonsense as his brain struggled to keep up with his words.  
"Em, we should find the others." Matt turns to face his girlfriend. Emily's face twisted at the thought.  
"Mike and Jess are off 69'ing each other somewhere and who knows where Sam is." Her voice was bitter, spitting out the words.  
"I think she's in the lodge-" Chris pointed ahead of them, the faint outline of the house just a bit off the marked path.  
Her eyes narrowed, before pausing. The anger and hesitation rolling off her body. "Fine." Emily agreed, relaxing a bit. "Fine. Your right." She nodded toward Chris and Ashley, who finally straighten up. "Get everyone else together. "  
" _But if there's a maniac running around_ I think we need to get some help right? Not just _wait around?_ " She stressed this. She's not dying on a mountain.

"But what about--" Chris turned back around to face the shed. Brows drawn together and sniffling. what about Josh?  
"Why are we still talking about this? Let's go!" Emily turned heel to face the group. Well she is the smartest, and her words are laced with truth.  
Chris faced her. Taking a deep breath before turning to face Ashley, eyes distant, nodding mindlessly lightly in agreement.  
He grasped her shoulder, body an anchor to this world, pulling her along and up the snowy path. Away from Matt and Emily. Away from Him.  
Chris needed to find Sam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a while, I'm pretty slow.. Next chapter things should pick up a bit more tho!!  
> Suggestions ?? Criticism ?? I love it all ! Help me improve !!

**Author's Note:**

> Suggestion? Criticism ?? I love it all !! Help me improve !!


End file.
